Jaime
The hell is wrong with these people?
After a night spent in the car parked at the outskirts of town, Jaime was glad for any kind of roof above his head. But that the walls were made of paper, half rotten paper at that, just struck him as ridiculous.
I guess this is supposed to be the 'traditional' housing in this strange world Irisviel mentioned. No wonder she prefers the shed.
She was still weak from her nightly encounter with Arya Stark's sword, but she was already fit enough to complain about not being able to explore the new hideout Kiritsugu had organized for them. Instead she and Kiritsugu retreated to a shed in the yard, the only somewhat sturdy looking part of the mansion, and busied themselves with the drawing of a magic circle that was supposed to charge both Irisviel and the sheath embedded in her. Or at least something along these lines... After all, Jaime had little interest in their magic trickery and since Kiritsugu had stopped speaking to him for a while now, the knight soon grew bored and listless, so he excused himself and started to explore this haunted house.
Kinda reminds me of the ruins of Castamere I visited some years ago... and it sure smells just as damp.
Jaime at least saw Kiritsugu's point that nobody would suspect them hiding here. Or at the very least, that anyone could be living in this house, for that matter. Acknowledging that fact, he stepped out into the unkempt and overgrown yard and walked over to the tiny shed where his Lord and Lady dwelled. When he pushed open the door, a bright red glow greeted him, even though it was still awfully dark in there. Kiritsugu paid him no heed, he was kneeling next to Irisviel who was sitting rather uncomfortably on the hard ground, where the magic circle Kiritsugu had drawn emitted the dubious light that was responsible for this ghastly atmosphere. Irisviel however looked towards him, smiling as usual.
"And? How is it?", she asked eagerly.
"Empty, ruined and mouldy all over it", he saw no point in sugar-coating it. "But I am sure you can find some charm in it."
Irisviel giggled softly.
"A place with history then!"
"That's the spirit", despite everything, Jaime smiled back, it was the least he could do.
"I always wanted to see the traditional houses from Kiritsugu's home country", she turned back towards him. "You have remembered, haven't you?"
Her husband scratched the back of his neck, grimacing slightly.
"I would like to take the credit, but I am afraid it was more of a coincidence that this is the most habitable real estate my contact had to offer on this short a notice."
He calls this habitable?
Jaime choked on his suppressed laugh, catching just another glare from Kiritsugu, though this one was noticeably less venomous than the ones he started to get used to. At this point Jaime gave up trying to make sense out of this couple. He had seen Kiritsugu's distraught face when Iri's life was at stake, he had seen the lengths he went to preserve it, how he prayed to his gods and was close to breaking in his struggle. Even now he had spent every wake minute at her side, so Jaime already started to hope that he was seeing the folly of his part, but ended up disappointed. He would not declare to give up on sacrificing her, quite the opposite, he seemed more determined than ever. Of course Irisviel herself then supported him even more, fought against her own failing body even more. It made no sense to Jaime. The more he saw, the more messed up all of this turned out to be.
Kiritsugu sat back, sighed and pushed himself up.
"Saber, a moment please", he went towards the door and signalled Jaime to do likewise. "We have to talk about our strategy from now on."
The edge of reproach was still audible, but Kiritsugu at least kept up the appearance of business as usual. Not willing to tear open any half-healed wounds, Jaime kept his mouth shut and obeyed silently.
"Now that we have confirmed Tohsaka and Kotomine to work together, it is most crucial that we take them out first. Especially since I doubt we can rely on the other Masters to do it for us. They also surely must have seen through our ruse of having Iri stand in as Master for me", Kiritsugu stated matter-of-factly.
So this means going against Joffrey and Arya first. Children, what are the Gods thinking?
He wanted to say that he could handle Joffrey, the little bastard was in dire need of a spanking, but he couldn't dare say something that left the implication that he couldn't handle Arya as well. Which was tricky, given that they'd most likely fight together if it comes to the worst.
How is that even possible? The little she-wolf always looked like she regretted not having finished the little shit off back at the Trident last time I saw her and Joff himself is, well, Joffrey. Their Masters must have tricked them with some sinister magic...
Kiritsugu must have seen his pained expression and was obviously not amused:
"I cannot say that I cannot completely understand your hesitation at the killing of a child. Under other, less dire circumstances, I would like to avoid it as well. But you know what is at stake", he raised his hand and pointed threateningly on his command spell. "I don't want to waste them, but the next time we face them, I will have to make sure you comply."
Jaime didn't reply, he was just meeting his Master's stare with one of his own. Thankfully, Kiritsugu didn't ponder long on his magic leash.
"Openly attacking the Tohsaka mansion will likely just spring another trap. But if Kotomine acts like I expects him to do, he will make use of Assassin's abilities to scout the area and might expose himself doing this. Beating him at his own game will be our best chance. Will be my best chance, that is."
"You want to set up a trap?"
"Yes... but he will be cautious if you accompany me. Unlike Assassin, you cannot hide your presence. So I will have no choice but leave you with Iri for the time being and-", he choked on his words, irritated.
And Jaime was as well. A tingling feeling overcame him. It was similar to the presence of Joffrey or Oberyn, far stronger, but for some reason he felt no hostile intent.
"The boundary field has collapsed", Kiritsugu realized.
"An intruder?"
"With a bound Servant."
Jaime looked back at Irisviel, who was still sitting within the magic circle, following their conversation intently.
"Don't bother yourself with me. I can take care of myself", she declared.
This time Kiritsugu was hesitating. Jaime could virtually see the possibilities rattling inside his mind as he was weighing whether they should make a stand here or intercept them outside.
"She is right, we have to go before they come here", Jaime added, though he was wondering why the enemy wasn't already knocking at their door, given that the boundary field at the castle covered much more ground and Joffrey still jumped at them with barely any delay.
"Fine, come with me", Kiritsugu checked his gun hidden in his pocket and went for the door.
Opening it just slightly, he motioned to Jaime that he should check the outside. Of course he complied, thinking that if the enemy was prone to shoot an arrow into the eye of the first one to leave, he had the highest chance to actually shrug it off. Though he was relieved of that notion when he peeked through the gap and no violent attack happened. Instead he saw several figures wandering through the living room on the other end of the yard. The living room he could see into due to the sliding doors being left wide open.
"I see an old man in a local garment, a green boy and...", his eyes widened as the black-bearded giant stepped into the yard, wearing casual jeans and shirt and yet pointing at their direction.
What in the seven hells is happening here?
"... the fat oaf. For what it's worth, it doesn't look like he wants to fight."
Kiritsugu looked back towards Irisviel. He seemed to weigh his option to send her out alongside Jaime again, but since she looked nowhere ready to get up and fight, he had to begrudgingly bury his ploy for good.
"Fine, let's see what they want."
With this the two men left the shed and finally intercepted the group of unwelcome visitors. Folding his arms Robert stayed back and observed the situation with a deep frown, something that left the young boy at his side confused and unsure whether to remain with him or to accompany the old man. The latter was still walking towards them with a bright smile.
"Oh, hello Emiya, long time not seen!", he called out. "Sorry for intruding, but you didn't reply to my ringing of the bells, though I hadn't expected you to hide out here."
"And I hadn't expected you to come with company", Kiritsugu shot back, though he softened up upon remembering that the man was supposed to be a friend. "It is still good to see you again, old man."
"Ah, please forgive old Raiga, it just seemed rude to ditch these pleasant young men", he gestured to introduce them. "The shy one is Waver Velvet, a student from abroad, while the muscle man besides him is-"
"Robert Baratheon", Jaime Lannister hissed.
The old man raised his eyebrows in surprise, both about the rude interruption and about the fact that the world proved absurdly small.
"Though I have to admit, I have barely recognized you", Jaime sneered. "How many stones have you lost since the last time I saw you? Eight? Or is it nine?"
"You have changed as well, Lannister", the thick oaf growled back. "Nice suit. And I like the beard. Makes you look less like a cunt."
Less like my sweet sister, you mean.
The atmosphere was murderous. Jaime just waited for an excuse to summon his armour and finish him then and there, witnesses be damned. Though he was a little irritated about the sweat that came running down his brow. He was never nervous at the prospect of a good fight and he was still pretty sure that hadn't changed.
"So... what a coincidence, huh", Kiritsugu's contact gave an unsure laugh. "I hadn't expected your partner and my recent acquaintance to be familiar with each other, Emiya."
"A coincidence, yes", was the tense hitman's absentminded answer.
"How exactly are you guys related then?", the old man must have felt the uncomfortable silence, but he still tried to salvage the situation.
"I used to work for him", Jaime admitted with a sly smile, the emphasis lay on 'used to'.
"I see."
Several seconds passed like this. It was now the boy who tried to defuse the situation:
"Should we... go back and wait at the car or something?"
"It might be better. To be frank, I didn't come to pick a fight", Baratheon admitted. "Well then... good to know that you are still around, Kingslayer."
"Until the next time", Jaime instinctively went for his knowing smile. "Watch your step on the way out."
The two trespassers retreated. They should have known that they had shredded Kiritsugu's makeshift boundary field and still went to see who dwelled here, so the implication was clear that they wanted to take a peek regardless of their intrusion into a Mage's workshop. The old man sighed as he watched them go.
"I'm sorry, Emiya, it seems I shouldn't have brought them after all."
"Don't worry too much, Raiga. I haven't told you about my business partner here either."
As it turned out, the old man was the owner of the ruin they had found themselves in and he and Kiritsugu had planned to meet here to get the final formalities done, even though one of his underlings had already given them the keys to this place. It seemed this whole meeting was more of an excuse by the old man to chat with Kiritsugu and he still tried to provoke a small conversation about past misadventures, but the mood proved thoroughly soured already. After getting the formalities over with, Raiga excused himself and left as well, leaving a stumped Jaime and an angry Kiritsugu behind.
"What now?", Jaime asked half bemused, half serious.
"We are back where we started", the Magus Killer growled, then sighed. "This one goes on my head for once. I shouldn't have relied on Fujimura, knowing his trusting nature."
"Come on, nobody would have expected him to just introduce us to Rider, right?", Jaime brushed it off.
"Still. This place is already compromised. Let's tell Iri and go back to the hotel before he comes back. Or worse, tells Kotomine of our location."
Jaime thought it unlikely that Robert would barge in under the light of day and with no boundary field to stop the neighbours from worrying. But then again, this was Robert Baratheon...
"I hope this hotel room of yours has not been reserved by others in the meantime", Jaime quipped on the way back to the shed.
Rin
Note to myself: There are far more houses in Miyama than I expected there to be.
It was a simple fact, but it was enough to disillusion her a little about what she expected to find. She had walked Kotone home, returned and just started to walk all the houses and all the apartment doors up with her trusty compass in hand, intending to find more magical traces in the area. It proved difficult enough though. In the direct vicinity there was nothing to find, even though she expected some kind of reaction after the summoning of a Servant vessel. After all it needed a magic circle with a direct connection to the leyline and a Servant vessel itself is such a powerful familiar that it should be nigh impossible to hide, so she had to assume that the circle itself must contain some residue afterwards.
Or at least that's what I hope it does. If I had known that I had to find another circle, I would have pestered father a lot more when he installed the magic circle in the cellar.
The sun was already about to set, painting the sky with a melancholic orange. Rin was sure that by now her mother was starting to worry about her and if she found her note about going to the funeral, she would certainly already be on her way to Fuyuki. She felt guilty about causing such worries, but the moment thoughts of surrender crossed her mind, she slapped both her cheeks and took a deep breath.
Calm down, Rin. You are a Tohsaka. Tohsaka's finish what they begin. And in any case, I will get a scolding anyway so the least I can do is getting something to show for it.
With this in mind she headed for the next building. She noticed that she unconsciously gave a more thorough look to western style family homes and apartments of higher quality, thinking that a Magus would hardly live in a shabby apartment complex like the one she was currently heading for. Now she reminded herself that she wasn't looking for a Magus, but likely for a rookie, so she should leave all options open to her when she climbed the stairs to the entrances and started to walk the doors down.
At least in the Western style district of Miyama I can still get somewhat close to the living spaces. I would have a hard time in the quarter with the Japanese style mansions.
After hours of failure she hardly expected anything to change right now, but when she passed one of the doors, she noticed that the needle of her compass swayed with a small delay as if it got stuck on a little glue. It was barely noticeable, but it was enough to give her a little pause and caused her to take a few backwards steps to see whether she could repeat this result. She could. With wide eyes, she looked up and compared the door to all the others. It was virtually the same, no defining feature that could give her another clue. Biting her lip, she stood on her toes to take a look at the letters above the bell.
Uryuu?
She never heard this name before, never once did it appear among the illustrious visitors her father received every once in a while. Soon enough she found herself staring at the door, not knowing how to proceed from here.
Now this is embarrassing. By now I should have thought up what to do in case I find something.
Entering without making sure that nobody was there seemed suicidal. But from here she couldn't see whether there were any windows to peek into either.
Maybe on the other side...
Rin was just about to leave as she noticed an old woman with grocery bags climbing the stairs. She took note of the girl standing around in front of her neighbour, but proceeded towards her own door without paying her any further heed. When the woman was scrounging through her bags, likely looking for her keys, Rin saw an opportunity to strike.
"Excuse me, obaa-san, can you help me with a little something", she approached her deliberately cute.
"Oh, of course little Miss, are you looking for someone?", the woman asked back.
"I was trying to find the one who picked up a toy of mine I lost at the playground nearby. I was told he lives here", she pointed towards the Uryuu apartment. "But it seems I have missed him. Can you tell me where to find him?"
"No wonder you can't find him, this boy is practically living at the Ryuudou-temple lately."
"Is he?", Rin acknowledged with relieve.
She remembered her father mentioning something a long time ago about the temple being a point with strong magical energy. It made sense for her that a Magus would seek it out.
"Why?", she implored.
"To help out Lady Melisandre I assume...", the woman said innocently.
Now this sounds like an ominous name...
"To be honest, I have known this Uryuu boy for most of his life and I've regarded him as a lost case for most of it. He was always hanging out near the playgrounds, bored and picking up fights and he had something creepy about him like he wasn't quite right in the head", the old woman prattled on. "When he grew to adulthood, I thought he'd take up a little responsibility, but instead he turned into a lazy slob who holed himself up at home all day. It all changed only a short while ago, when the people here were stressed out about these gruesome murders and then the terror attacks and he suddenly ended up the red lady's staunchest supporter, introducing her to us and helping out with our festivities with a vigour I had never seen from him before."
"Festivities?", Rin asked, having a very bad feeling about this.
"Ah, nothing too fancy. Just a little show of force that the people of Fuyuki don't let themselves get intimidated easily, that we can still go out at night in spite of the so-called danger, especially when we are under the protection of the Red God and his spirits."
"Okay...", she assumed to have heard enough, this couldn't be a coincidence.
"So when you want to ask Uryuu whether he found your toy, you better go to the temple. He must surely be busy with the preparations for tonight's bonfire."
"Then I will go there", Rin replied evasively.
"And if you have the time, you could bring your parents and stay there, little Miss. I am about to come as well, you know."
"Maybe", she made a deep bow. "Thank you very much for your help. I will be on my way then."
She hurried away, but not very far to be sure. She observed the lady entering her apartment from afar and when everything seemed clear, she ran back up the stairs again and went to the Uryuu apartment.
"Öffne dich!", she ordered the lock and the lock complied with a clicking sound.
If nothing comes out of my Magus career, it seems I can always fall back upon burglary.
Rin rolled her eyes about her own thoughts.
Not really the most elegant pastime, huh? Father would be furious even if I'd joke about this.
She entered the apartment, got rid of her shoes and sneaked into the messy main room that was obviously used as both a bedroom, living room and garbage bin as the table packed with empty ramen cups next to the rolled up tatami mattress accounted for. The damp smell of old instant meals was nauseous, but this day Rin had smelled worse before. Here at least no one had been killed, or she hoped at least.
Not very elegant either...
Rin had no desire to scrounge through the piles of smelly wastes, so she fetched her compass again and let it decide where she should look.
Let's see, if I were a poor amateur magus in a run-down apartment, where would I construct my workshop?
The needle pointed right ahead. And right ahead she went, towards the low dinner table and amidst the chaos her compass pointed towards a worn out handbook that was taking on dust right in the middle of it.
Seriously?
Rin decided that she was in no position to complain about this being too easy. She picked the book up, carefully, just in case it would try to eat her, but she immediately realized that it was just a regular notebook without any inherent magical properties. The part the compass was drawn to however was the hardened black coat the backside and the bottom of the book were drenched in. Grimacing, Rin took a careful sniff at it.
Blood.
It smelled just like at the crime scene she had sneaked in before. She felt like vomiting, or at least like throwing it away as hard as she could. But this wouldn't do. She opened it, hearing the pages cracking and ripping where they were glued together by the dried fluid. As she had noticed before, it was a simple notebook, if a bit old. There was a date in one of the front pages, apparently it was written down in the early Shouwa period. When leafing through it hurriedly, she recognized handwritten passages about the Holy Grail War, about Servant summoning and of course about the construction of magic circles. Rin closed it, feeling ill.
I've found him...
Even the blood was proof enough. The compass only reacted because it had been infused with mana, which means that it came from one of these hideous circles this Uryuu had created, maybe even the one at Kensuke's house. Sure enough, this was not the kind of evidence the police would be interested in, but she had no doubt that the book itself and maybe the rest of the apartment would certainly contain more conclusive ones. Not that the police could do much against him. Because Rin was sure that the worst possible outcome had happened.
The red lady... surely she was the one he summoned. So he did it. And she didn't kill him for his actions.
Now the only remaining question was, just how dangerous a serial killer making a shot at the Holy Grail could actually be.
Kariya
The chilly air announced the arrival of winter in Fuyuki. Especially here at the height of a rooftop it was already cold enough for the breath of Kotomine Kirei to already be visible. The fake priest crouched down over his bagged prey, removing the camera attached to it with a knowing smile. It was a bat familiar, a dead animal revived with magic only to get killed again by one of these throwing knifes. Kariya knew how it felt like to be skewered by those while having his mind inside a familiar, even though he wasn't sure whether the owner of this construct of low-level necromancy would receive the same amount of pain he received each time it happened to him. He himself watched the entire scene through the eyes of one of Zouken's wretched insect familiars born out of his own flesh and the magical energy created by devouring him. He had trailed Tohsaka's ally through half of Shinto as he was prowling through dark back alleys and rooftops that were supposed to be closed to the public. Kariya told himself that he had gotten better at subterfuge, but part of him was still dreading that Kotomine knew he was being watched and only grew tired of taking down his familiars now that he had already killed half a dozen of them. Not that it bothered Kariya that much. The pain of being skewered was nothing in comparison to the pain of being eaten alive, in fact he found it oddly relieving. In any case, he kept a few dozen of these airborne crest worms in the area to replace his main eye every time one gets killed and to replace it fast enough that he was still able to catch up to Kotomine whenever the priest tried to get some distance between himself and his tracker. Even though he was weak, Kariya wanted to prove himself persistent if nothing else.
His only regret in this situation was that he could only have one pair of eyes at once. He would have gladly watched over both Kotomine and Tohsaka, but since this was outside of his abilities, he focused on the prowling priest and relied on his knowledge that the craven Tohsaka was too afraid of soiling his fine dresses to actually leave his home. Or at least Kariya, who had indeed kept watch over him for several days, always found him holed up at his mansion, trusting on his Servant and his magic security fields to keep him safe.
As if those could protect him from my Berserker...
That was another one of his problems as well. Who would protect him from his Berserker? This mad beast proved completely unconcerned in regards to his mana consumption and each time Kariya tried to make him manifest outside his spirit form, he felt the crest worms inside of him boiling alive. So far he refrained from using him in combat, unsure whether he would survive even a single bout if his Servant kept draining him like this. He had to be used as a scalpel, cutting at the right place at the right time to make the most of it. Everything else would be suicidal. Therefore Kariya kept his brute on the leash like a joker up his sleeve while he did the scouting work.
I hope the bastard proves strong enough to make up for this torment...
Impatiently he resumed his watch. The priest seemed very interested in that familiar, interested enough to specifically hunt it down instead of his crest worms. And now that he obtained the camera, he had left the rooftop and casually mingled among the residents below, making his way to a less populated part of town.
Let's see what he is up to.
The winged worm swung himself into the air and followed silently